Eats our massive (sometimes multi GBs) texted based log files like they where only a few K. The new 64-bit version is a huge boast in speed, and multi line editing is also a great time saver.
Yes there are free alternatives, but this works so well for our needs I'm happy to pay for it. The fact is, free projects need money to continue to advance as well. I'm just more comfortable supporting a project I like by paying for it as apposed to putting up with ads or bloatware during the install.

We use this program for processing massive sized text data files that have some pretty nasty formatting. Very fast and easy to search for specific components of a huge file. Our IS group deals with dozens of text files 400MB and up daily, and UltraEdit has proved itself worthy for quickly doing what needs done.

This used to my go-to editor about 8 years ago, but I have since found Notepad++, I've not looked back. I'm not sure why it is not free these days considering alternatives like PSPad, NotePad++, and TextPad are out there.

A terrific text editor. While various freeware options offer much of the same functionality this program provides, I keep coming back to Ultraedit because there's nothing else that gives me everything I want in one single convenient package. The company has been around for 20 years, and is still owned by the founder, so support is good. Hopefully they don't get bought out by Symantec...
It's often described as a programmer's editor, but in my opinion it's better described as a scripter's editor or troubleshooter's editor. It's especially useful for parsing log files, identifying the contents of mysterious unknown data files, and cleaning up crappily formatted text data. In short, a great tool for an IT generalist who needs to do a wide range of different tasks involving scripts, config files, and text-based data files.
The ability to instantly switch from standard text editing to columnar editing to hex editing on the fly is great when you're trying to decipher a cryptic data file or extract information from a binary file, or figure out why a supposedly plain-text file is being rejected by some parser.
The ability to open files of any size and edit them directly on disk is rarely necessary, but when it is, you're grateful that the option exists.
The ability to sort a text file based on columnar position is surprisingly helpful.
The built-in file search with regular expression support is flexible and intuitive. You can do regex search and replace operations on entire folder structures with just a few clicks, and it's fast. It supports multiple regex types, as well as a simple and easy to remember built-in wildcard syntax that is specifically for working with delimited text files.
Searches are fast and accurate, and results can be output to a list, where clicking on the line automatically opens the file at the point where the match was found, or can be output to a new file. This is especially valuable if you need to look for specific events in a large collection of log files. You can quickly create a single file containing all matching lines from an entire directory structure, then do additional searches in that file.
The point isn't that you can't do these tasks with other tools, but that no other single GUI program I've found can do all of this as seamlessly in a single package.
The built-in macro scripting language is a bit primitive, but plenty adequate for quick and dirty automation of repetitive tasks. Things you might write a shell script or Powershell script to do can be done from within Ultraedit, sometimes more easily.
The user interface is highly customizable, and it offers decent integration with the command line. It has a good range of predefined syntax highlighting options for common languages, and it's easy to customize or add your own.
There are not a lot of negatives in my opinion, and mostly they are minor, but here they are...
Some of the terminology used in menus and dialogs is non-standard and could be confusing to some users. I believe this is a result of the program's user base including a lot of non-technical people. Sometimes terminology reflects common misconceptions rather than technical correctness, but this isn't a big problem for a knowledgeable user.
The price: It's gotten to be too high. $80 for the base Ultraedit package is pretty steep, especially when you have free options like Notepad++, Scite, and TextWrangler. This price does allow you to install on up to three computers for one user, but I'd prefer to see a new price under $50, and an upgrade price under $30.
Featuritis: Recently the developer has started to slip into the "feature bloat" model, adding additional product lines and new functionality aimed more at increasing revenue than actually improving usability. Of course, Adobe's been doing this for years, but it's a bit more disappointing when it's a small privately owned company.
If you are looking for the ultimate programmer's editor, this may not be the best choice. When you have options like Visual Studio or Eclipse available, Ultraedit probably won't impress. But if you want a swiss army knife of text editors, something with a GUI that offers a level of flexibility comparable to a command-line interface, Ultraedit is an excellent choice.

We have a heavily modified XCart site, and ever since we started using UESTUDIO it has made life a lot easier when we have to work on things. There are other free programs out there but you don't really get some of the more robust features that UE has.

This i a good program and had some users that purchased it because they were familiar with its interface. My issue is why pay for it when there are so many free alternatives. GET Notepad ++ and save yourself some money